The
HDI ranks
countries based on national averages of schooling, life expectancy and
per capita income.

In the Chretien years, back in the 1990s,
Canada
managed to rank first and that, of course, was seen as a great
endorsement of our federal government of the time. We’ve
slipped down
the pole a bit since the turn of the new century.

At the
beginning of this month, the HDI rankings for 187 countries and UN’s
comments on the world situation were released. Norway,
Australia and
the Netherlands grabbed the first three spots, while the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), Niger and Burundi – all Central or West
African countries – were relegated to the bottom three
positions.

The
other Top Ten spots were taken, in order, by the US, New Zealand,
Canada, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Germany and Sweden.

This
year, the HDI also looks at an Inequality-Adjusted Human Development Index. The
US may offer excellent health care options but who has access to
it?
Everyone? An inequalities adjustment, thus, drops some
high-ranking
countries off the Top Ten, while others benefit from having a more
equitable, if not quite as well-off, situation. The US, for
instance,
with this factored in, drops to No. 23 from No. 4 and Canada to No. 16 from No. 6.
Meanwhile, Sweden jumps from No. 10 to No. 5.

The UN has also
included a Gender Inequality Index, giving highest marks to Sweden for
a composite of reproductive health, years of schooling, parliamentary
representation and participation in the labour market. Canada
does not
appear in the Top Ten. At the other end of the scale, mostly
African,
as well as countries in conflict are listed due to very low
representation of women and girls in education, paid work and political
participation.

Finally, the Multidimensional Poverty
Index
examines factors at the family level – access to clean water, cooking
fuel, health services, basic household goods and housing
standards.
The UN estimates that one-third of people in the 109 countries surveyed
live in poverty.

That’s 1.7 billion people!

The ten
poorest countries
in the world by this measurement are all in sub-Saharan Africa,
including Niger (92% impoverished), Ethiopia (89%) and Mali
(87%).
However, given much larger populations in India, Pakistan and
Bangladesh, the largest number of poor people live in South Asia.

The 2011 Report, entitled Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future
for All says that current trends of inequality and deteriorating
environmental conditions pose difficult obstacles to progress across
the globe. While developing world economies have grown over
the past
generation, there are now severe water and air pollution issues, and
the effects of climate change, to be dealt with.

An
environmental
disaster and resulting decline in growth are possible in the next
generation, if not now. Issues of inequality in particular
affect
African women who are most vulnerable and most involved in raising food
from the land. Projections for Southern Africa are for a
sharp drop in
maize (corn) and wheat production over the next twenty years.

United Nations Development Fund Administrator Helen Clark says, in the
Foreword to the Human Development Report, that our world of seven
billion people has to be aware that all we do has consequences – for
the natural environment and for people’s livelihoods. The
Report calls
for UN-backed initiatives that would enhance people’s lives, while not
harming the environment. This would include using solar, wind
and
other renewable energy sources to provide 1.5 billion people, half of
them in Africa, with off-the-grid electricity.

Clark also
calls for a .005% tax on international currency trading, using the
amount raised to boost aid levels during our global
recession.

“The
tax would allow those who benefit most from globalization to help those
who benefit least”. The possible $40 billion raised this way
would
still be a fraction of what is needed to finance adaptation to climate
change in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Asia in
particular faces climate change related disaster situations.
Rising
sea levels will impact on low-lying countries such as
Bangladesh.
Rapid coal-fed industrialization in China and India has created acute
air pollution, acid rain and smog with critical effects on human
health. Bangladesh could lose 11% of its land to the sea (a
half-metre
rise) by 2050, affecting 15 million people.

Deforestation is
affecting
the land, while loss of fish stocks is affecting people’s diets and
livelihoods.

The UN Report also lists the many
advances
taking place in today’s world as some countries take the step from
“low” to “middle class,” thanks to investment, industry and
jobs. It
points out, however, that this must be done sustainably so that future
generations will benefit rather than be saddled with continuing
environmental and human rights deficits.

One hopes that our
world’s
leadership, currently so focused on cutting programs – while the rich
get richer and the poor get relatively poorer – will see the wisdom in
thinking beyond themselves.Zack Gross works
for the Manitoba Council for International
Co-operation (MCIC), a
coalition of more than 40 international development organizations.